NWRA announces top drivers, operator of the year

The National Waste and Recycling Association (NWRA) announced its 2018 Drivers of the Year and Operator of the Year winners March 9. The awards recognize an operator and the drivers from member companies who put safety as their top priority.

“Safety is a core value at NWRA and for our members. Our members and their employees are dedicated to keeping our communities clean and safe on a daily basis. Therefore, it is important that we recognize the drivers and operators who make safety a priority. I congratulate them on their achievement,” NWRA President and CEO Darrell Smith says.

The Operator of the Year award is for employees working in post-collection for a materials recovery facility (MRF), landfill or transfer station who safely operate heavy equipment, including bulldozers, front-end loaders and compactors.

The Driver of the Year awards are for those drivers who operate their trucks in a safe and responsible manner, have outstanding performance records and whose contributions have enhanced the overall safety and image of the solid waste industry.

The finalists were determined by a computerized scoring system. Independent judges selected the winners based on letters of recommendation and, for drivers, the difficulty of the route. Operators were also judged based on how difficult their equipment was to operate.

The award winners will be officially recognized Tuesday, April 24 at WasteExpo 2018 during the awards breakfast.

“Going forward we will be turning our full focus to growing our construction and demolition facility, dumpster rental business and increasing the production of mulch and gravel made from the raw material we harvest. From these roots, we will realign our efforts and position ourselves to grow our organization in other areas.

“The decision to close our household waste processing facility was not an easy one as much time, effort and expense have gone into it. However, with the severe drop in commodity prices over the past few years and the bleak forecast, we have made the economic decision to close our household processing facility. We will concentrate our efforts in areas of our business that are more profitable and that can ensure our organization has a strong future.”

According to a report in The Daily Progress, Charlottesville, Virginia, the van der Linde Recycling Zion Crossroads facility has processed the commingled waste of nearly 30 private and municipal haulers in the region since 2009, recovering recyclables.

"City-contracted trash and recycling is unaffected by the change,” the newspaper reports. However, some city residents chose to use private haulers for the convenience of commingling their trash and recycling, and their recyclables will no longer be recovered.

Affected residents can opt to bring their recyclables to McIntire Road Recycling Facility in Charlottesville, which is a joint effort of Albemarle County and Charlottesville, The Daily Progress reports.

Van der Linde Recycling & Container Rental’s MSW sorting facility has only recovered about 25 percent of the MSW it processed for recycling, the newspaper reports, citing the facility’s unaudited 2016 state reporting.

Genie names new head of product development

Mike Davis has been appointed to the position of Genie vice president, product management and Terex Business Systems (TBS), for Terex Aerial Work Platforms (AWP). In this role, Davis will have responsibility for global product management for the Westport, Connecticut-based Genie brand and will also have global responsibility for the company’s TBS activities across operations and administrative functions. Davis will be transitioning to his new role and relocating to Redmond, Washington, in the coming months.

According to Davis, there are two distinct elements of this role. For product management, he will have responsibility for leading the Terex AWP product strategy process, working with all areas of the business to ensure that Genie has the right product at the right time to meet customers’ needs. He will also be leading the company’s TBS initiative, which is a long-term effort to develop team members and improve company processes to deliver more value for customers.

“The exciting part of this role for me is that it aligns our product and process efforts,” Davis says. “I look forward to continuing our company’s legacy of bringing innovative products to market and focusing on initiatives that proactively address our customers’ needs.”

“We are a customer-centric business, and our strategy continues to be to best serve our global customers’ needs,” Matt Fearon, Genie president, Terex AWP, says. “After six years serving in international assignments, bringing Mike back to Genie in this role is specifically intended to drive this strategy. His job is to increase our capacity to bring innovative, quality products to market, as well as to improve our ability to respond to customer needs by growing the capabilities of our team members. These activities are strategically aligned to significantly benefit our customers worldwide.”

Davis has been with Terex for 21 years, starting as a design engineer for the Genie brand. From 2012 to 2015, he served as Genie vice president and managing director, Asia Pacific, Terex AWP. In late 2015, he moved from the Terex AWP segment to the Terex Cranes business. Prior to rejoining Genie, Davis served as the vice president, global strategic initiatives, Terex Cranes.

“I have spent most of my career at Genie,” Davis says. “It is an industry and a team I have literally grown up with and thoroughly enjoy being part of—this feels very much feels like coming home. The experiences I gained in the last six years have given me a more global perspective on many aspects of the business. I’m very excited to bring these experiences with me, and once again, be part of the company’s future.”

Quinn
SCS Engineers, headquartered in Long Beach, California, has named Vita Quinn its national expert on solid waste finance and rate studies. Quinn, who works out of Jacksonville, Florida, came to SCS with 12 years of experience as a financial analyst and management consultant. She leads the company’s national economic integration team.

Quinn’s expertise includes fiscal impact analysis; rate, fee and assessment development; feasibility and scenario analysis; budgeting and revenue projection; privatization; and cost allocation. She and her team enhance economic and financial sustainability to SCS technical solutions and plans, according to the company.

Quinn’s appointment extends the firm’s expertise to more industries and supports the other environmental services SCS offers, the company says. In addition to her expertise in solid waste management, she has developed financial sustainability solutions for utilities, municipal governments and independent authorities and districts.

“SCS is known for helping our clients develop integrated, sustainable plans for solid waste management, which is especially strategic now considering new initiatives and approaches to managing our waste streams, the commoditization of recycled materials, changing collection rate structures, international conditions and the influx of new technology on solutions,” says SCS Senior Vice President Bob Gardner. “Vita’s expertise and leadership help us expand our team, directly benefiting our clients and reinforcing the SCS culture of delivering value.”

Quinn has a bachelor’s degree international economics, an MBA in finance and a certificate in real estate development. She is an active member of the Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA), the American Public Works Association (APWA) and the National Association for Business Economics (NABE). More information on Quinn is available at www.scsengineers.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Quinn_Vita_resume.pdf.

Embezzlement hits AIM in Florida

Theft from abandoned buildings and construction sites gets much of the attention, but a recent case in Florida pertains to scrap company employees who engaged in an ongoing theft scheme.

According to an online report by the Miami Herald, the Davie, Florida, location of Montreal-based American Iron & Metal (AIM) was victimized by a group of employees who siphoned off an estimated $3 million worth of mixed, shredded metals.

In the course of a year, according to the media report, which refers to the filed lawsuit, a group of six employees helped steal, haul and sell loads of AIM’s metal to competitor Metals USA, based in Opa-locka, Florida

Five AIM Florida employees have provided testimony about the scheme to AIM and its attorneys, while the other, Samuel Abreu, is reportedly being considered the ring leader who will be prosecuted to the full extent.

Metals USA also has reportedly been named as a defendant for allegedly “knowingly” buying the material at below market prices before selling it to domestic and overseas consumers. That firm’s attorneys are denying Metals USA was aware the material was stolen.

In addition to theft, the scheme involved manipulating scale readings at AIM in Davie to conceal that material had been stolen, according to the report. Much of the theft occurred at night, according to employees who have testified.

While one cooperating employee claims to have profited by some $30,000, Abreu is believed to have siphoned off enough to buy a $225,000 house, several cars, a pickup truck, a boat and a luxury wristwatch.